It’s time for Jeff Sessions to move on

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Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump

In the last several weeks the public jabs back and forth between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump heated up to what can only be described as an unmitigated disaster. It was like watching a scene from Mean Girls as first Trump tweeted about Sessions and Sessions responded with an official statement and now just yesterday it was reported Trump was criticizing Sessions accent and educational background. Enough already! Stop the madness.

While I know this opinion will be unfavorable, especially here in Sweet Home Alabama I feel like I need to join the chorus of folks saying –  it is time for Sessions to step down from his role. It does no one any good for him to be there under these circumstances and knowing Trump’s temperament it’s not a matter of if but when Sessions finds himself on the receiving end of a tweet informing him that his tenure in the administration is over.

Session’s presence in the administration has become a distraction from the important work the Department of Justice is and needs to be doing.

The president’s cabinet and our federal government needs to function in a fluid fashion and our leaders need to have, or at least be able to show respect for one another, if not for the offices that each of them hold. I wrote about Sessions recusing himself from the Russia investigation very early on when it occurred, agreeing with Trump that Sessions shouldn’t have done so. That said I’m a big fan of Session’s and the service he’s given to our state and our nation. While I disagree with him on some issues (like civil forfeiture) he’s proven throughout his career that he loves our nation and justice.

So while it’s shame, it is abundantly clear that it’s time for the Department of Justice to have a clean slate. It’s time for grown men to act like grown men. It’s time for the Sessions to realize he’s no longer just the guest who’s worn out his welcome he’s making the party uncomfortable for everyone.

If he were to sooner rather than later before things get any uglier, he could absolutely chase away the 50 of so people with their names being thrown around to run and beat Sen. Doug Jones in 2020 to take the U.S. Senate seat he vacated to become AG (should he have any interest in that which is doubtful to say the least). He could clearly also have a very lucrative private sector or job in higher education. His possibilities are endless but they all start with the same thing, he has to be willing to see that the price of this ongoing public feud is too high and it’s time to go. He must do all he can to protect and maintain not just his own reputation but that of the agency he’s been entrusted to run.

Now, I don’t kid myself that the confirmation of a new attorney general would be an easy feat but we need someone in there that can be more effective and less divisive. We need to start sooner rather than later getting ready for that fight.